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ST. JAMES' CRISIS: CAN CHELSEA OVERCOME FIVE MAJOR FIRST-TEAM INJURIES

With Estevao Willian out and Lavia’s return unknown, we ask: can Enzo Maresca’s squad depth survive a trip to Newcastle United?

St. James' Crisis: Can Chelsea Overcome Five Major First-Team Injuries
Is Chelsea’s Heavy 2025 Schedule Finally Taking Toll?

Chelsea isn't in crisis, but they do have five first-team players out with injuries. Some Premier League teams have it worse, but Enzo Maresca will be without some key guys for their game against Newcastle United this weekend.

Estevao Willian, Dario Essugo, Romeo Lavia, Liam Delap, and Levi Colwill, costing the club £130 million, are all out for the trip to St. James' Park on Saturday. Estevao is the latest to be sidelined with a minor muscle issue. Maresca mentioned it after the win at Cardiff City, saying the Brazilian stayed home.

He had a small muscle problem, Maresca said about Estevao. He won't be available for Newcastle, and we'll see about the next game.

StadiumNest understands Estevao should be back for the next game, a home match against Aston Villa on December 27. The club also hopes Essugo will be back soon.

The Portugal Under-21 player had thigh surgery in September and was supposed to return this month, but had another setback. It's not his thigh this time, but it seems unlikely we'll see Essugo before Christmas.

Lavia is still dealing with his injury issues. The 21-year-old went off injured in Chelsea's draw with Qarabag in November and football. London reported that he'd miss at least a month with a quad problem.

It's been more than a month since that update. The media asked Maresca about Lavia on Monday, and he said, We don't know. Lavia won't be back anytime soon.

The same goes for Colwill. He had surgery on a knee injury in August after hurting his ACL during his first preseason session after the Club World Cup. Colwill is expected to miss most of the season since ACL injuries usually keep players out for six to nine months.

As for Delap, he is not expected to play again this year. StadiumNest understands the striker, signed for £30 million this summer, will miss four weeks because of a shoulder injury he got in the draw with Bournemouth earlier this month.

Even with Maresca's best efforts to manage workloads, Chelsea is missing several key players right now. Considering Chelsea's long 2024/25 season, the boss has done well to keep most players on the field.

Players like Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Trevoh Chalobah, Pedro Neto, and Marc Cucurella have played a ton of minutes in 2025. Luckily, they've avoided injuries, even though some have had minor issues.

WHY WAS COLE PALMER SUBBED? THE REAL REASON BEHIND THE STAMFORD BRIDGE BOOS

Fans booed as Cole Palmer was subbed in Chelsea's draw with Bournemouth. Learn why Maresca was absent and what’s next for the Blues.

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Managing Cole Palmer’s return

After Chelsea's 2-2 tie with Bournemouth, assistant coach Willy Caballero defended the choice to sub off Cole Palmer, even though fans at Stamford Bridge were angry about Enzo Maresca's move.

Fans booed, yelling, You don't know what you're doing! when Palmer—who'd been one of the team's better players—was taken out in the 63rd minute. The home team was trying to score and break their bad Premier League streak at the time.

Chelsea has only won one of their last seven league games. Caballero said afterward that head coach Enzo Maresca, who wasn't there for the post-game interviews due to illness, is still a role model for everyone at the club.

Still, the pressure is on the coach after yet another result slipped away. Chelsea has now lost 13 points at home from winning positions.

The mood got especially sour when Palmer, who just came back from an injury, was taken off in the second half.

Every fan wants the best players on the field, Caballero said. We do, too. But Cole is coming back from a long injury. So we have to figure out the best substitutions to win the game while also keeping our players healthy. We need them for the entire season.

Caballero said about Maresca's absence, "He hasn't been feeling well for the past two days." He had a fever two days ago. He did the last two practices because he wanted to get the team ready. But after the game, he went to the locker room and asked me to fill in because he wasn't feeling well.

He's handling it well and is very professional. He puts in a lot of hours every day, even when he wasn't feeling well the last two days. He loves to train and coach. He's a role model for me and the rest of the staff.

Bournemouth took the lead after six minutes when David Brooks scored on his second try after Robert Sanchez made a save. Then, Palmer scored a penalty to tie the game for Chelsea.

Next, Enzo Fernandez put the home team ahead, but the Blues couldn't hold on to their lead again. Justin Kluivert tied the score before halftime after Chelsea failed to handle a long throw-in from Antoine Semenyo.

There's been a lot of talk that this would be Semenyo's last game for Bournemouth before he moves to Manchester City soon. Before leaving the field, he seemed to say goodbye to the fans who had traveled to see the game.

Still, head coach Andoni Iraola was sure he'd play against Arsenal on Saturday.

It's not his last game here with us, he said. I can't say for sure, but I think he'll play.

He needs to rest. We've played two tough games in three days. We have Arsenal at home, so we're getting ready for another one, a tough game against the leaders. He's going to be important for us.

BREAKING: ENZO MARESCA SKIPS MEDIA AS CHELSEA CRISIS DEEPENS! GET THE HEALTH UPDATE

Enzo Maresca missed the post-match media due to a fever after Chelsea's 2-2 draw. Willy Caballero provides an urgent update on his health.

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Chelsea's winless run continues as Maresca falls ill

Enzo Maresca skipped media interviews after Chelsea's 2-2 tie with Bournemouth because he was sick.

The Blues coach was supposed to chat after his team snagged a point against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

But right before he was about to talk about the game, news dropped that Maresca wasn't feeling good.

So, his assistant, Willy Caballero, stepped in to handle things in west London.

Caballero shared an update on Maresca: He's been under the weather for a couple of days, Caballero said. He had a fever two days ago.

After the game, he went to the locker room and asked me to fill in for him since he wasn't feeling well.

Caballero was asked if he'd be in charge against Manchester City on Sunday, like he was against Villa during Maresca's suspension.

"I'm not sure," he said. I just want Enzo to get better. I think he'll be fine in a day or two.

The draw with Bournemouth means Chelsea has only won one of their last seven Premier League games.

Fans were clearly annoyed during the second half when Cole Palmer was subbed out for Joao Pedro.

Palmer just got back to playing regularly after a groin injury, but some Chelsea fans wondered why he was taken out.

About the boos, Caballero said, "Of course, every fan wants their best players on the field, and so do we."

But Cole is coming off a long injury, so we have to figure out the right subs for the game and also look out for our players since we didn't have him for a while.

Chelsea and Bournemouth had a boring 0-0 draw in their previous match earlier in the month.

But the game at Stamford Bridge was totally different, with Bournemouth taking the lead early on through David Brooks.

Palmer leveled the score with a penalty, and then Enzo Fernandez blasted a shot into the top corner to put Chelsea ahead.

But Chelsea failed to defend a long throw for the second time, allowing Justin Kluivert to score for Bournemouth.

After playing City, Chelsea will face their west London rivals Fulham before an FA Cup game away against Charlton Athletic.

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